Braider Blog

Tricia Harmon is a game-maker, mom, and entrepreneur. Read a bit more about her below and make sure to check out her Kickstarter campaign here.

How would you describe yourself in 10 words or less? Spunky working mom who loves games and life!Tell us about your brand. Alpha Ginger Studios is a card, tabletop, and board game design company. The company name makes a lot more sense if you see how ginger my husband's hair is. Our first game (coming soon!) is a competitive card game called "Canine Chaos!" The goal of the game is to be the first player to collect 5 dogs, while messing with other player's packs. We are also working on a tabletop role-playing game that centers around creature survival, called "Evo-C", and a board game called "Sucks to be Human."What inspired you to start? My husband! We hold and attend game nights regularly as a family. Even our first date involved us sitting at a table playing a tabletop role-playing game. Gaming has always been a big part of who we are and what we like to do. About a year ago, he started writing campaigns for some local gaming groups. As more and more people contacted us for more information and gameplay ideas, we started looking into taking it a step further. Six months ago, after leaving a game night with some friends, he ranted to me that he had a problem with how there weren't any popular card games about dogs. I looked at him and basically said "Then we should make one." and we did! He set up the basic game design, then I took over to refine, test, and work out all the business and legal challenges. If you have a mission, goal, or vision for your brand, what would it be? Bringing gaming back to the table! While we love video games, we started noticing a drastic difference between game nights with video games and game nights with card and board games. We want to foster the kind of togetherness that seems to be lacking with Local Area Network (LAN) parties. Who is your target audience? It depends on the game. Some of our prototypes are for all ages, others are a bit more complex. The card game we have coming out is for 10 and older, while the tabletop role-play game would be better suited for a slightly older audience.What’s the biggest challenge and biggest success that you’ve experienced so far with your brand? I think our biggest challenge so far has been preparing for our upcoming Kickstarter. It's been a lot more to pull together than I expected! I've gotten a first hand look at finalizing contracts, negotiating quotes, juggling prices, and setting deadlines. We have successfully written one full game, with two more in the works!

You can learn more about Tricia and Alpha Ginger in this SheBizUtah feature here.